Monday, May 14, 2012

Shelby's First Real Dance Recital

One of my favorite things this week was watching Gavin helping Dalton and Shelby rehearse for their upcoming Spanish play. They are each playing a character in the play, Cinderella, but the catch is that the whole thing is in Spanish. This is with their after school Spanish class at McKee Immersion Spanish School (that I love). The kids see their Dad in a whole new light when he is rocking his sweet Spanish accent.

This week we had the rehearsals and performance of Shelby's Virginia Tanner dance class. I didn't have big expectations because a couple of the girls in her class have the attention span of a gnat, and Shelby hadn't been super jazzed about her classes. We did it because it was something fun to do and try out. (Here we are below on the day of the show, all done up.)

Little did I know that Shelby would become sold on dance. Maybe it's the femininity of it all. She's been into soccer and tennis and art, but in this extra curricular activity she gets to flit and float and be very PINK. I think that she viewed her Grandma Paula and Aunt Kristen as the masters in that department. I was the Mom who donned the sweat pants till 3:00 PM with hat hair and unbrushed teeth. But on the day of her performance I got us both glamorous, and it was like she was seeing a whole new side of me...her Mom could be a pageant mom...oh happy days!

These two girls nearly did me in...but who doesn't love a challenge? I was asked to be a "Monitor" for the performance. Good thing that I had no idea what that entailed...otherwise I would have run for the hills. I got to go multiple times to Kingsbury Hall where we did dress rehearsals with the girls, helping them to get in to their costumes, and keep them quiet while we waited for the other dancers. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong. One little girl was terrified of heights and stairs...which meant that running up and down three flights inside the theatre was very difficult especially when you have six other girls pulling ahead of you and you all have to stay together. I ended up doing a lot of pep talking as I held her hand and helped her to take one of the thousand steps at a time. Her best buddy has the energy of a wind up toy and the personal boundaries of a jelly fish. Her little hands and arms were like tentacles that she would wrap around any moving thing that was within her reach.

So I had to summon all of my patience and contraband candy that I used for bribing, to survive the week. It was a lot of reminding the girls to whisper so that people couldn't hear them on the stage, or try to keep them entertained with Gavin's IPad in their half hour of down time while they waited for the other dance groups to finish up. I had never been a dance Mom. I never envisioned myself as one. Too many memories of pre pubescent girls bumping and grinding on a dance floor in half time shows, looking like they were training for their roles in smoke filled Vegas casinos. I got the lure it had for others but it never did much for me (especially since I had zero talent in it).

But with Shelby, I see why she loves it. It is because with Virginia Tanner, the dance moves are not sexual or seductive, but freeing and empowering. They teach dance to inspire the girls. With their vision, I was converted to how wonderful dance could be.

This is the special hair do that I did for Shelby. Oh yes, I have secret hidden talents.

Here she is waiting with the girls in the basement dressing room of Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah.

The women who run Virginia Tanner dance are inspiring. They are not done up. They are not beauty queens. They are not super thin, or really fit. What they are is confident. They are at home in their bodies. I have never seen women so alive. And whether they were in their twenties or their sixties (like Shelby's teacher) they were beautiful. Here the director gives the girls from all ages a pep talk before the show.

Before the performance, Shelby was unsure about what was going to happen. She wasn't really nervous.. it's more that she thought all the hype was a bit much. Some of the girls were really nervous...to the point of some drama (which we both have limited patience for).

But once she was on stage, she was SOLD. Here she is below with her hands in the air, freezing for her pose. Her smile covered her entire face. She said that she could hear her Grandma Paula cheering for her in the front row. The stage was something that she felt safe on. I remember that feeling.

These panels were their props, and though they were pretty cumbersome and heavy, the girls did well with them.

They finished their dance and at the end they hugged each other and laughed till their sides hurt. I viewed it all from behind the scenes, off to the side of the stage curtains, and loved to see them all shine. Even the gals that had been a little challenging were amazing...giving it all they had and giving a beautiful performance. Once they were downstairs, they were so thrilled with how well they did that they ran down the hall to their dressing room, jumping for joy.

Hooray for new talents, interests, adventures, friends, and self esteem. Life is wonderful.

My Story

Grew up in Happy Valley, which explains my perpetual state of happiness. Married young, (well duh, we had been on at least eight dates already and my nineteen year old clock was ticking. Plus, how long could we really hold out..eef you know what I mean?) Made life a living hell for my husband Gavin for a couple of years, just because you can do that when someone is bound to you for the rest of eternity, and your only other long-term relationship was with Luke Perry from 90210. Got pregnant young, (we'd been married for three years already- my eggs were practically shriveled up..and plus that birth control was really hard to remember to take). We moved as a happy family to Boston, after Gavin graduated from BYU with his MBA. I was determined to make friends with as many non-mormons as possible, so that I could be the most worldly mormon from Utah and possibly convert all my new friends so that we could all live in the same cul-de-sack in the Draper/Alpine neighborhood of the Celestial Kingdom. They succumbed to being my friend, but didn't fall for the mormon part. Much to my surprise, I learned that even without being born under the covenant, they were nice people who liked their kids and didn't beat them, or mope around the house in deep depression all day wondering what the meaning of life was. Wowzers. Had a lot of fights with Gavin. He worked his arse off in consulting, while I spent my arse off with money that we didn't have. Started connecting dots. Fought some more with Gav. Got pregnant again, cause we can't just have one child, even if we do hate each other. Had some life-changing experiences with women who would forever be bonded to me through the shared perils of life and motherhood. Moved away from Boston, so that we could afford a house, let the kids see their relatives, and so that I could go back to school. Wanted to die, die, die for about two years. Thought that Utah and I were not destined to be roomies. Started back up at school at the U. Liked using my brain again for non-kid-related things. Started to like life again. Wondered if I should get pregnant again. Thought that three sounded just a titch more fun than two, so decided that three it was. Had a hell of a time with being pregnant at the end, as well as the whole first year of the baby's life. Think I lost my sanity for a bit along with the placenta. The kid ended up being a keeper, and is now the mascot of our family. We have a gecko, a stray fat black cat, and a new little shelter kitten. We live in Salt Lake near the University of Utah. We have an old house. I have big plans for a remodel, that divert my attention from my studies on days I need an escape. I have been journaling since I could write my name. My mother figured that it was safer than sex and rock-n-roll. I have been blogging for about two years. I am en route for a Master of something degree. Some days it's a Master of Social Work, other days it's a joint Master of Public Administration. Other days I just want to collect data on the why's and how's behind life. Who knows- maybe I'll drop out and go to hair school (no offense bro). So now a days, I have chilled out somewhat. I am most-of-the-time happily married to Gavin (Don't ask me how that one came about. Think we both just screamed "Uncle" at the same time and called it a draw), who most-of-the-time acts like an adult. I have three kids who are most-of-the-time stellar (and who, to be honest I REALLY LIKE. Again, who knew?!) and most-of-the-time I am content, even if I may be tired, or angry, or venting, or sad, or overwhelmed...under it all I feel pretty dang content...which is nice. I would say that my life right now most resembles the movie Ground Hog Day, with Bill Murray. Each day seems eerily similar, and luckily I have had a lot of chances to try and do better. Oh, things that weird me out are people who are never mad-sad-wrong-or crappy, giant SUV's, thinking about lame things I've done-said-thought in the past, having sick kids where I feel powerless, pretending I like someone/something I don't, pretending period, giving a crap about insignificant things, dealing with lame stuff, and having a fake tooth, a widow's peak, mild acne, and identity confusion as to whether I am supposed to be a blond or a brunette. Other than that, it's all good.

Good Reads

Just finished this book last night. Why did I wait so long to read it? Saw myself in one of the characters..which was painful. I was envious as I read many parts of this book, because Stegner is such a genius. I was jealous of his gift....

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While the author's style was a little redundant at times, the subject matter and characters in this book were fresh and uncensored. Seeing the senior year of high school in a gang and drug ridden neighborhood in east L.A. through the eyes ...

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The reason that Gavin and I are still married. Life saving. A deep look at why we are attracted to who we are, and why it's supposed to be so gut-wrenchingly hard at times. A wake-up call for those in a marriage on auto-pilot. Loved it.

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One of the best books I have read. A voracious journal-er, whose main stumbling block was his own sense of inadequacy, John Adams was one of the most complex characters in our nation's history. Passionately believing in his own set of ide...

Read this book in my younger days when anything written by a liberal was basically on par with cheap drugstore porn. Was thankfully confused when I found myself impressed with Hillary Clinton, against what I thought was my better judgement...

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We were the underdogs. And if you ever thought that it was divine providence that led George Washington's ragged group of men to overcome the odds and claim America as their own, you doubt it while reading this book.

Much ado about nothing? Hmmm. I think that it was revolutionary for it's time, because no one wrote the truth. This book, and the main character, seem so ordinary today, because we are comfortable with rambling self-reflection. But when...

I used to think that I loved reading non-fiction because I preferred a true tale over fiction. However, when you read an author like Franzen in the book The Corrections, you realize that fiction may be the only real place you can tell the ...

Is it just because I had such high expectations, after reading The Corrections, that I was disappointed? On the cover of Time, on Oprah, written up in every publication, etc. I mean, how could it be anything but fantastic? It will certai...

I give this book five stars because I think that it is a profound idea that Byron Katie is introducing- especially for those who are tormented with the weight of worry about those people and circumstances around them that they feel as thoug...

On Chesil Beach was an incredibly quick read that grabs you from the start (hello- a virgin on her wedding night set in England in the 1960's), and continues to impress with the vivid details the author paints each scene with, until the ver...

I almost wet my pants at times. I think that is the greatest compliment that you can give to an author who is telling a witty and funny little story. He is telling stories from his own life, which are at times terribly painful, yet he doe...

Another winner by Sedaris. Every story a gem. Every childhood tragedy and embarrassment turned in to a witty self deprecative look in to his self. Laughed throughout the entire thing, and got teary at a couple of them. I highly recommen...

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OK, I was kind of gagging that I had to read this. I mean, haven't I read enough pioneer tales for one life already? How many more sugar coated tales of surviving death by praying could I take?...and then I read this. For what it was, it...